Register / Login

Welcome to Agri Machinery Trade News

You will need to register to receive full access to this website, however registration is free and will allow you ‘access all areas.’ This includes a comprehensive jobs section, features, interviews, machinery news, and our free weekly trade only newsletter.

Farm machinery dealers in the sales, service and parts network for Landini and McCormick tractors in Wales and the west of England are being supported by a newly-appointed area sales manager.

Chris Hughes has joined the Argo Tractors operation with several years of technical and sales experience gained at leading dealerships and says he relishes the fresh challenges that come with representing a manufacturer.

“I’ve been a workshop technician and service manager, and worked as a dealer salesman, so I’ve a good understanding of the trade from a dealer’s point of view,” he says. “That will help me in my new role, representing Argo Tractors in support of the management and sales staff at our franchised dealers.”

Calling all tractor enthusiasts! A genuine piece of tractor history is to be sold at the forthcoming JCB Auction to be held at Rocester on 26 March and conducted by AMS Auctions Ltd. Prototype 5 or ‘P5’ as it became known was built in 1989 and was the first turbocharged machine to be built. As with all the early prototypes it has a flat screen cab and an aftermarket a/c unit fitted. The purchaser will also get several stillages of prototype parts which are included in the same lot.

AIC Services has published an updated FEMAS standard for the assurance scheme for producers and suppliers of feed ingredients.

The publication is a result of extensive review by the FEMAS Review Group in consultation with the certification body, FEMAS participants and auditors.

The new version of the FEMAS Standard will be applicable from May 1st 2019 and scheme participants will be required to implement it from that date. There will be no transition period for the new standard. However, any participant with an audit booked on May 1st will have two months to prepare, and up to 60 days to rectify any non-conformances.

Simon Williams, Technical Manager for AIC Services, said: “FEMAS is one of the critical assurance schemes delivered by AIC Services which provide assurance right across the supply chain and ultimately link into the Red Tractor scheme providing assurance to retailers and the consumer. We are committed to a process of reviewing and improving these schemes to ensure that they continue to be fit for purpose and deliver the highest possible standards across the industry

Somerset farmer, Nick Bragg, has set himself the pedal busting challenge of cycling 3,000 miles across Canada in 30 days to raise awareness and funds for the welfare charity, The Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (R.A.B.I). The challenge starts in Montreal on 21st June 2019 and will see Nick and his trusty bicycle travel 3,000 miles across 6 states, through the mountainous terrain of The Rockies and finish by the iconic stone sculpture, Inukshuk, on the Vancouver waterfront.

Nick and his wife Claire own and run Frogmary Green Farm in South Petherton and have been supporting R.A.B.I for many years through events hosted on the farm, such as the Great British Beef Week Supper. Nick’s self-appointed Trio of Triathlons last year raised over £1600 for the charity. The fantastic support he received during his Triathlon challenge and the money raised for R.A.B.I was all the motivation he needed to devise this endurance cycling challenge in Canada.

Glenn Bootman, OPICO Territory Manager for East Anglia, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire has taken on the additional role of Product Specialist for the HE-VA brand. Now in his tenth year with OPICO, Glenn has worked with HE-VA since joining and has been a key member of the OPICO team in building the dealer distribution network for HE-VA.

Hidden in North Shropshire woodland is the works of Harry West (Prees) Ltd where the West farm machinery is produced.

In 1966, founder and present Chairman, Harry West, started a fabrication unit to meet the needs of the local agricultural community.

“In its formative years the company specialised in light fabrication and repair work of machinery for the local community. Through my experience as an agricultural engineer, the company began turning its attention to the development of new and innovative products,” said Harry West Chairman

The company’s first Dual Spreader was introduced in 1979, heralding a new range of purpose made machinery developed with the busy farmer in mind.

The award winning West Dual Spreader as gone from strength to strength and developed over the years to suit modern farming practices were the unique design allows precision spreading of all types of farm waste/manure.

The West Dual Spreader remains a firm favourite in all types of farming 40 years after its introduction.

A new upgrade for the tractor cab air filtration system on Landini Rex 4 tractors provides top level Category 4 protection against spray contaminants and easy change-over between regular and carbon filters.

New Rex 4 tractors with the optional CAT4 cab have both types of filter installed at the same time and operators can select either type with the flick of a switch.

This arrangement provides quick and convenient access to the maximum level of protection from potential contaminants in the cab while spraying but also optimises the service life of the special carbon filter.

“This is a pragmatic solution typical of the innovative thinking that goes into Landini products by engineers at Argo Tractors,” says Adrian Winnett, UK and Ireland managing director. “It simplifies things for the operator while also cutting filter replacement costs to a minimum.”

The UK leader in Hand Arm Vibration (HAV) risk management has collaborated with a specialistRFIDsoftware consultancy to develop a new automated management tracking and reporting system.

Edinburgh basedReactec has developed a range of HAV management tools, which aim to improve protection for employees in heavy industries with the support of Lancashire-basedCoreRFID. These include its HAVwear wearable technology, HAVmeter tool mounted technology, mobile apps and an analytics software platform.

The new HAVwear device, is worn like a wristwatch, and provides real-use monitoring of HAV exposure when using power tools. The HAVwear displays total vibration exposure, which helps workers manage their own exposure while the automatically collated data informs managers’ efforts to control the risk.

Perkins Engines Company Limited has entered into an agreement appointing Finning (Ireland) Limited, trading as DiPerk Power Solutions Ireland, as an authorised Perkins distributor for Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

DiPerk Power Solutions has been a distributor of Perkins products across Great Britain since 2004 and specialises in the supply, service and support of the complete range of Perkins product used in a variety of markets and applications. DiPerk Power Solutions is now working with existing providers to deliver sales, parts, service and support to Perkins customers in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

From March 2019, the UTILIX range will be extended by the addition of a new mechanical tractor – the UTILIX CL. The new tractor will be available in two versions: with and without cabin. Just like the current HT model, CL model will be produced in two different powers: 43 and 49 hp.

“The tractor will differ from HT models mainly in transmission which will now be fully mechanical with 16 forward and 16 reverse gears. The reason to extend the current offer is the demand coming from countries like Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland which demand UTILIX in fully mechanical version,” says Jakub Hurta, Product Marketing Manager, ZETOR TRACTORS a.s., whose team is responsible for the project.

UTILIX tractors were premiered on AGRITECHNICA in 2017. Their sale started in 2018. They are universal tractors which are widely used not only in agriculture and on farms but also in road maintenance, in planting, horticulture and by hobby farmers.

Founded in 1871 POETTINGER is a family owned business with a long history of success. Operated today by the 4thgeneration of the family we have extensive experience in the agricultural field. Our Irish subsidiary is growing rapidly in the local market and thus opportunities have developed for expansion and new positions. For this reason we are looking to appoint an Aftersales & Sales Promotion Manager, who will be based from our headquarters in Clonmel Co. Tipperary. Reporting directly to the General Manager, you will be responsible for assessing the daily needs of the business and its dealer network for further development and success.

Aftersales & Sales Promotion Manager

Location: Ireland (North & South)

Responsibilities:

Reporting to the General Manager the Aftersales & Sales Promotion Manager is responsible for providing both sales and after sales support throughout the island of Ireland.

A critical element of the role is customer relationship management (CRM), to build relationships with all stakeholders at all levels across both sales and after sales. The Aftersales & Sales Promotion Manager will be the key product contact person for dealers providing technical support and guidance in both the product sales & after sales process, including warranty.

Working alongside both the marketing and sales team, you will plan, organise and execute specialist company demonstrations, shows, exhibitions and associated events. Produce and deliver company related training events to our dealer network. Working closely with the Aftersales department at our headquarters in Austria, you will be responsible for all aftersales and warranty matters within the Irish marketplace and development of our dealer network.

Requirements:

In depth experience of the agricultural industry and modern machinery

A strong team player with excellent communication skills at all levels

Kubota UK has partnered with J.A Bloor AgriServices Ltd as its latest agricultural dealer to sell its latest range of Kubota tractors and agricultural equipment to customers in Staffordshire, Derbyshire and surrounding areas. Located in Hollington, Staffordshire, J.A Bloor AgriServices Ltd sells and hires a range of tractors and farm machinery.

Founded by Managing Director Jason Bloor in 2004, his team of experienced farm machinery professionals provide a reputable, hands-on approach to understanding and responding to the buying and hiring needs of their customers. J.A Bloor AgriServices Ltd will be stocking the L1/L2 Series of sub 50hp tractors, a full range of M Series tractors, including models from the M4, M5, MGX and M7 series, along with the RTV range of utility vehicles.

With over 30 years’ engineering experience spanning production planning and management, engineering, quality control and project management, Justin started his career as a machinist before joining a bearings manufacturer, where he rose through the ranks, becoming Production Director in November 2012, a position he held until he took up his new challenge at Haith.

The winners of the 2019 AgriMachinery trade News Excellence awards were announced on Friday 8th March at an invitation only ceremony at Concorde at Manchester Airport.

Andy Newbold, publisher of Agri Machinery Trade News said that ‘it was a great opportunity to come together and celebrate the often unsung and overlooked heroes of the machinery supply chain who are busy going the extra mile to keep UK Agriculture farming’.

This years winners were chosen from a very strong field of nominations from their peers in the industry. ‘Its high praise indeed when a customer or a supplier makes a nomination, and this years winners deserve the recognition of these awards’ Andy continued.

The Churn Estate, near to Didcot in Oxfordshire was this year’s venue for the fourth annual National Self-Propelled Sprayer Demo day. Organised by FarmSmart Events on behalf of the industry, 15 key sprayer manufacturers were in attendance alongside BASF, Syngenta, Bridgestone UK Ltd., Stocks AG Ltd., LH Agro UK Ltd., Precise Solutions GPS Ltd., and RTK Farming Ltd.
It’s not often that customers get the opportunity to get into the driving seat to test and compare machines and manufacturers for themselves, But this was the case at this years National Self-Propelled Sprayer Demo day, which was held on the 20th February at Beeswax Dyson Farming’s Churn Estate, near to Didcot in Oxfordshire.
Agri Machinery Trade News was there on the day to talk to the Sprayer Manufacturers and Machinery Dealers about why the event is such a cost effective way of getting their products in front of the right buyers.

Claydon Drills’ latest advertising campaign, created by Land Communication, will start appearing soon. The bold yellow ads pick up on an earlier campaign from the same team of copywriter Damian Keene and designer Vaughan Evans.

The agency has also been appointed by Case IH as its PR agency for Africa and the Middle East. The Ipswich-based firm has been responsible for European PR for the brand since 2016. “Case IH and Claydon are among the top brands in European agriculture,” said Charles Macdowell at Land Commmunication, “and we are delighted to be taking on these exciting new briefs. “

Ahead of the 12th annual National Apprenticeship Week, between 4-8 March 2019, three young budding agricultural engineers explain why they have chosen to follow a path that promises to lead to a successful career for the rest of their working lives.

The AGCO Academy Apprenticeship is now in its 20th year, and in partnership with WCG (formerly Warwickshire College Group), has been the starting point for some of the most highly-respected and sought-after agricultural engineers in the sector.

It combines classroom and workshop training with practical, work-based development to lay the foundations of a successful career, working with such brands as Massey Ferguson, Fendt and Valtra.

Supported by AGCO’s nationwide network of service dealerships, the AGCO apprenticeship scheme offers aspiring engineers the opportunity to build a rewarding vocation, often in a sector they had not considered. It is important to remind school-leavers, engineering goes beyond the automotive industry!

Investment in new product development and marketing has increased a Lincolnshire agricultural machinery manufacturer’s annual turnover by 40%.

Agricast, which supplies replacement wearing parts to farmers, saw its turnover almost double in 2018.

2019 has started equally well for the company, with January’s sales up 70% year-on-year fuelled by orders for new products.

Last summer, coinciding with the expiry of the patent on the Simba Double Disc Ring, Agricast introduced its Press Roll Ring, a more durable and enhanced poor weather replacement. Since its launch in June 2018, Agricast has sold over 1,000 rings.

A comprehensive line-up of the latest farm tractors from the McCormick range will feature at a public Open Day being staged on Thursday, March 21 by leading machinery dealership P&D Engineering at its premises in Bredon, Gloucestershire.

The event will mark the official opening of the company’s Country Store stocking animal feed and bedding alongside a range of tools, gardening items, water fittings, tapes, clothing and a whole lot more, in addition to a comprehensive stock of replacement parts for tractors and machinery.

“We’ve had a tremendous response to the store from local people who keep animals or have a few acres of their own,” says Mike Pullin, managing director. “Having the extra space means we can stock a more diverse range of products that complement the agricultural equipment and machinery we’ve always sold.”

CNH Industrial N.V. has announced the appointment of Brad Crews as the Brand President of Case IH, effective March 4, 2019. Case IH is one of the Company’s global agricultural brands.

Brad Crews rejoins CNH Industrial following his tenure as a Director of Titan Machinery Inc., an agricultural and construction dealer group of global scope. Mr. Crews can draw on some 23 years of experience at CNH Industrial, where he held a variety of increasingly senior managerial roles, culminating in his appointment as Chief Operating Officer of the former NAFTA region in 2014, a role he held until his departure in 2017.

Mr. Crew’s holds a Master’s degree in Engineering from the University of Michigan, USA and a Master’s degree in Management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA.

Aldermore, the specialist funder, is enhancing its asset finance offering with the launch of a new online Dealer Portal.

The fully-mobile and optimised portal, which represents the latest move by Aldermore to invest in its technology and people, aims to improve the service that it provides to small businesses by simplifying the relationship between lending partners and customers.

Now available via the Aldermore website, the portal empowers Aldermore’s dealers to manage their asset finance portfolio online using document generation and electronic signature capabilities to provide a fully paperless end-to-end process.

As well as allowing dealers access to multiple payment structures which will give them the capability to offer tailored financing options, based on each clients unique needs, the platform will also allow the immediate online submission of proposals to Aldermore’s specialist underwriters, resulting in real-time deal updates.

A new recruit to the Argo Tractors team handling sales and distribution of Landini and McCormick products in the UK and Ireland has been appointed to focus on parts supply to agricultural machinery dealers.

Stuart Watson’s territory takes in Ireland, Scotland and the north of England, enabling National Parts Sales Manager Tony Burgess to focus on Wales and the rest of England.

Adrian Winnett, UK and Ireland managing director for Argo Tractors welcomed Stuart’s appointment: “His career specialising in the parts side of the agricultural machinery business gives us a very experienced manager for this territory.

Joining a major tractor manufacturer as it prepared to stage its most ambitious presence at the LAMMA show this year proved a challenging “baptism of fire” for Argo Tractors new recruit Rachael Groves.

Her appointment in the new role of Marketing Coordinator meant organising every aspect of the show stand from working on the build schedule and ensuring the social media technology was up and running to staging two dealer meetings during the event.

“It was absolutely non-stop in the weeks leading up to the show and no two days were the same,” says Rachael. “But it was also very exciting to be part of a team putting on such an ambitious, modern and stylish exhibit of Landini and McCormick tractors at the show.”

Zetor UK Ltd has announced a new dealer appointment for the South West Wales area , M D Plant Hire and Machinery Ltd , who are based at Henallt Fawr Farm , Bronydd Arms Camarthen SA33 6BB.

The business is run by Mathew Davies and his Partner Michelle along with their team. Mathew has had a brisk start already securing several deals for the much in demand Zetor product , their appointment follows a busy year with new dealer appointments by Zetor UK who in the last year secured Gordon Agri Ltd ( Central West Scotland ) , Heming Group (Worcestershire M4/5 Corridor) and S T Malcolmson Engineers (Shetland Isle) to the ever growing dealer network.

Galileo Wheel, developers of advanced tyres for farming and construction machinery, are set to release their new Galileo SkidCup – the only tyre that uses the latest CupWheel technology for improved grip, traction and efficiency. The company claims additionally, the tyres extend machinery lifetime, increase comfort, and there is zero downtime with the run flat capability.

When operating in harsh working environments, skid-steer operators often face the inevitable and frustrating delays that result from downtime and increased tread wear-out – not to mention the financial losses.

In spite of the tough weather conditions last year the Amazone Group of companies increased its turnoer to a record level of 481 Million Euros. In comparison to the previous year (457 Million Euros), this represented a growth in turnover of 5.3 %.

With an export share of about 80 %, business levels in Germany, Great Britain, France, Japan, Spain, Hungary and Ireland developed very positively. Also in the important agricultural machinery markets of Poland and Russia, turnover remained stable last year.

For 2019, about 1,900 people in total, among them 130 trainees, are employed at Amazone including the new site in Bramsche and the subsidiary, Schmotzer Hacktechnik, taken over at the turn of the year; the company invested more than 7 % of the turnover in the research and development sector. Investment in tangible fixed assets exceeded 20 Million Euros.

From March 1st 2019, Agrifac UK will take over the business of HARDI UK. With both brands being committed to the long term development of crop protection, as well as being subsidiaries of the EXEL Industries Group, the merge between the two Companies is seen as an appropriate and positive step forward for the future production of crop spraying equipment.

Both brands will continue to work as separate entities under the EXEL Industries Group of whom they are owned by, with Agrifac providing local support for HARDI UK from their UK base. Support will consist of Sales, Marketing, Service, Parts, Finance and Administration activities, and will mean that the two Companies will work in synergy with one another.

An exciting and varied career opportunity has arisen for an experienced Area Sales Manager with a well-known and highly respected market leading manufacturer of agricultural machinery and ancillary equipment. Our client is part of a global group which takes pride in its success in the British market.

The role:

This role will focus primarily on selling high quality machinery to the dealership network, but, some on farm dual calling will be required along with attendance at shows and dealer events. The successful candidate must be prepared to travel within the territory with occasional nights away from home.

This is a home based position covering the central UK region. The ideal candidate will be located within the territory

If you have had previous agricultural machinery or farm equipment sales experience, we would like to hear from you.

Candidate Requirements:

Excellent knowledge of UK agriculture

Previous experience in agricultural machinery sales

Experienced relationship builder

Excellent sales and negotiation skills

Target driven and enthusiastic

Good time management

Excellent communication Skills

Highly motivated

Full UK driving license

Remuneration:

A highly competitive salary will be on offer and a company vehicle will be provided.

To apply for this new career opportunity:

Please e-mail your CV and covering letter to:

amandalatham@delacyexecutive.co.uk

For more information and an informal confidential discussion please call:

De Lacy Executive will upload your CV to our database and retain some data about you in order to process your application. More information about our processing activities can be found at www.delacyexecutive.co.uk/privacypolicy. Please be assured that all contact is treated in complete confidence and your details will not be passed to a third party without your prior permission.

Please note that this advertisement is not a job description and you should satisfy yourself about the full details at interview.

De Lacy Executive is an Approved member of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, which promotes high standards in recruitment practice, and is registered with the Information Commissioners Office. De Lacy Executive complies with all relevant data protection legislation.